Ever been jealous seeing someone start one of your favorite games for the first time, knowing that even if you replayed it you'd be too tainted by knowledge to ever go through the depth of feeling you cherished as it first blew you away? Somehow, Monster Train 2, pulling into the station, is able to whisk me away on a journey of discovery once again, introducing enough changes and new mechanics to the Monster Train roguelike formula that it genuinely feels like learning the game from scratch again.
To some that may sound like a negative, but for me it's exactly what I want from a roguelike sequel like this. Monster Train 2, from developer Shiny Shoe, isn't so faithful to the original that its iterations feel pointless – many a roguelike followup has been left barely played as I simply return to the first game. Instead, every evolution keeps the game firmly on the tracks to new horizons, and I'm meeting them full steam ahead. It's so engrossing, that in some ways it's a blessing I won't have permanent access to the early build, and can finally text my family back.
